| Jul-22-19 | | lost in space: 31. Re8+
A. 31...Bxe8 32. Qf8#
B. 31...Qxe8 32. Qf6#
I love Mondays |
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| Jul-22-19 | | areknames: 31.Re8+ deflects the Q from f6 or, if 31...Bxe8 blocks the Q from defending g8. Lovely theme. |
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| Jul-22-19 | | Cheapo by the Dozen: What <areknames> said. |
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| Jul-22-19 | | Cheapo by the Dozen: The puzzle should have started on Move 30.
And what was the point of Black retreating the bishop to c8? I thought it was to avoid playing ... c6, but he wound up playing that move anyway. |
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Jul-22-19
 | | agb2002: White is a knight and a pawn down.
The black queen prevents Qf6# and Qg8#. Hence, 31.Re8+ and mate next. |
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| Jul-22-19 | | stacase: Move 31 White can say check 6 different ways and does any one of 'em work? Yes, 31 Re8+ leads to 32 Qg8# or 32 Qf6# depending on how Black responds unless he tips his King over (-: |
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| Jul-22-19 | | saturn2: <31. Bxc6> is not so elegant but wins: 31..Rxc6 32. Re7 threatens mate on g7, h7 and the bishop 31..Bxc6 32. Re7 Qg8 33. Qf6+
31..Qefg8 32. Qxd7 plus piece |
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| Jul-22-19 | | malt: Nice move 31.Re8+ gives Black a choice
of demise. |
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| Jul-22-19 | | stacase: Correction: Move 31 White can say check 7 different ways ... Duh! |
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| Jul-22-19 | | SpamIAm: <CheapobytheDozen>, I guess black avoided 11...c6 because he feared 12.Ng5, after which the threat of 13.Bxh7+ (or Nxh7) forces 13...g6 (or h6), after which 14.Nxe6 fxe6 gains the two bishops for white and saddles himself with a weak e-pawn. |
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| Jul-22-19 | | Caissas Clown: I've seen a very similar deflection/interference theme before,but not this particular game. I*thought* it was demonstrated in one of Reti's wins, but I'm not certain.Any ideas ?? |
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| Jul-22-19 | | TheaN: Interesting concept here which is a 'half-Novotny half-take-out-the-defender' (TM). After BxR the bishop blocks the back rank allowing Qf8#, and after QxR she voids f6 allowing Qf6#. |
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| Jul-22-19 | | JohnBoy: What is this type of Lady-or-Tiger choice called in chess? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. |
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Jul-22-19
 | | patzer2: Quickly found 31. Re8+! solving today's Monday puzzle with mate-in-two. I can imagine the Queen and Bishop arguing about whose responsibility it is to capture the White Rook on e8. The Queens says "Bishop, our King is under attack by an invading White Rook on e8. I order you to capture and destroy it." The Bishop responds "Oh no your highness! If I capture the White Rook, I block your line of attack and the White Queen will mate us on f8 or g8. Worst of all, I'll be blamed for the loss of the Kingdom. So your highness, as the King's loving and devoted Queen it's your royal duty to capture and destroy the invader." The Queen responds to the Bishop, "How dare you refuse to carry out my command. You know if I capture the Rook, the King will be mated by the White Queen on f6. You're simply trying to shift the blame for the loss of the Kingdom from yourself to me." The Bishop replies "In that case my dear Queen, why don't we peacefully resign. If we resign, neither of us will be blamed for the loss of the Kingdom. Without the White Rook's blood on our hands, I believe the White King will spare out lives." The Queen angrily replies "Spare our lives only after they've ravaged and pillaged the Kingdom! Yet the White King is a handsome fellow, and we've gotten along well together on social occasions. So to spare excessive bloodshed and suffering for our people, I'll ask my husband to give the order to resign." P.S.: So where did Black go wrong? The decisive mistake was 27...Bd7? allowing 28. Re1 +- (+7.33 @ 30 ply, Stockfish 10). Necessary instead was 27...Ne7 ⩲ to = (+ 0.30 @ 37 ply, Stockfish 10). |
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Jul-22-19
| | patzer2: <John Boy> <What is this type of Lady-or-Tiger choice called in chess? Damned if you do, damned if you don't.> The tactic is called "overworked" piece or "overloaded" piece. In this case, the Queen is overloaded as she is tasked with guarding both e8 and f6. However, she can't do both. So Black is busted. |
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Jul-22-19
 | | dorsnikov: Never even considered R=e8. I went with B- e4. This is not a Monday problem. |
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| Jul-22-19 | | TheaN: <dorsnikov: Never even considered R=e8. I went with B- e4. This is not a Monday problem.> Whereas I was critical of Mondays in the previous weeks, I have to disagree with this: a rook sac mate in two is <exactly> what the Monday should be for. It can't be toned down much; or do you prefer mate in one instead :>? |
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| Jul-22-19 | | Damenlaeuferbauer: After long pondering, my old friend Vasilios, who wrote some excellent opening books, finally found the mate in two moves with 31. Re8+!,Qxe8 32.Qf6# or 31.-,Bxe8 32.Qf8#. |
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| Jul-22-19 | | JohnBoy: Thanks, <p2>. But I was thing more that the bishop blocks the Q... kind of like half Novotny. Not that the Q is faced w two horrible choices. |
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Jul-22-19
 | | Jonathan Sarfati: Could have started the puzzle from the previous move 30.Bh6! |
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| Jul-22-19 | | King.Arthur.Brazil: Mondays... 31. ♖e8+ (5 secs). Answering <Cheapo by the Dozen> the move 30.♗h6 is not easy for a monday puzzle, although if 30... ♕f8 31.♕xd7 ♘b8 and 32.♗xg7+! when the overstressed black ♕ reapears: 32... ♕xg7 33.♕xc8+ and ♕xg8#. |
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Jul-22-19
 | | Jimfromprovidence: As a side puzzle, take a look at the position from move 29 beginning with Bh6.
click for larger view |
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Jul-22-19
 | | gawain: I noticed that after 31 Re8+ Bxe8 White mates on g8. But I simply assumed that the capture 31...Qxe8 would be a sufficient defense. I looked at other white 31st moves for a minute or two--then came back to 31 Re8+. Sure enough, after the rook is captured none of Black's pieces cover f6, and none can intervene by moving to g7. A stunning mate, if you ask me. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 30.Bh6